Dislike Dystopian Sci-fi? Then Read On

Five space aliens showed up on my front lawn this very morning. You might think that is too routine a thing to mention, but as they took note of me looking out of my bay window, they bowed and smiled, perhaps to reassure me that they were not of the dystopian sort that I often came across and had to have hauled away. The considerate behavior of these five was a welcome change of pace. They slowly inched nearer, as if taking pains not to startle me. At first I thought they wanted to check me out. But no, it was the window, naturally, because it was made of stained glass depicting impressionistic scenes of mountains and streams. Could it be that they didn’t have windows where they came from?

One of them looked at me as if asking for permission, and started touching the glass, tentatively at first, and then more firmly. I thought I had better go outside and supervise; I did not want broken glass and spurts of fear on their part.

I did not know which planet they were from, much less their language, but they must have hailed from a serene secure society, since they took my presence for granted rather than as a source of concern. I gently motioned for them to stand back from the window and showed them how to just touch and not push on the panes. I then thought how nice it would be to take them inside, so they could see all of my objects and paintings and architectural detail, but they all rushed over to the window to look at the courtyard they had just left, preferring to look out of a window as well as to peer into one.

That seemed to satisfy them, and they each danced a little jig in front of me—a form of thanks?– and they hopped back outside, and they left the premises altogether, and presumably the town, and the planet. What was that all about? Perhaps they had come for the mystery of the boundary between inside and outside. Ha! More likely, they had decided to cross our planet off their list as not containing what they were looking for

*****

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Book Review: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

Early on in this romantic time-travel novel, author Andrew Sean Greer (HarperCollins, 2012) clues me in that he is not going to follow some predictable formula. One of his characters is a gay man dying from AIDS who is both gentle and provocative. He says to a woman who had made a petty complaint  about his dog coming close to her flowers “When you were a little girl, madam…was this the woman you dreamed of becoming?”  I, and I suppose just about any of Greer’s readers, immediately pondered this question for myself. What are my own regrets and embarrassments, what my sources of pride and fulfillment?  If nothing else it is a fantastic comeback for any stranger who acts surly about a trifle and who is taking being alive for granted.

Another profound observation comes about for Greta, the main character,  (and for us) when she travels back to 1941. Then, unlike in 1985 when her twin brother, the gay man’s partner, had died of AIDS as well, he is alive. Greta thinks about some irritating behavior of this “restored” brother, and muses, “It was infuriating, and so like my brother, but not in any of the ways I had hoped….And yet of course when the dead come back to life they come back with all the things we didn’t miss.” (emphasis mine.) How astute of the author to refer to an earlier stage of grieving which typically does not include the negative memories that might occur in a later stage.

I am very glad that I read on. Greta gets more insights about love and loss, which we could always benefit from. But while the plot is intriguing on one level, it is confusing on another: Greta cycles between three times, 1918, 1941 and 1985, which is clear. The confusing part is that while she is in one time period, “another” Greta is getting things done and affecting other relationships in the other two periods while she is “away.” Moreover, the reaction of some of the other people in the older time periods to her revelation to them about her traveling to the other two is far-fetched, but the pleasure of the fantasy, the romance and the insights, are well worth the trips.

 

I borrowed this book from the local library. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

In Honor of Offbeat Compassion’s Third Anniversary

It is quiz time once again! I figured this would be a fit way to celebrate the third anniversary of Offbeatcompassion.com which is July 4^th. It is also a sneaky way to get people to read more of my posts, beginning with February 24^th through the present. Here are the rules: 1. I will only count responses made to my email address, karenbookmankaplan@gmail.com  ( No one will be on a mailing list as a result.) 2. I will count responses in the order they are received. 3. The first 3 people to give me the correct best answers will win. The prize will consist of: being the first people in the general public to see a sample from my next book, The Curiosity Seekers. It is compassionate (what else?) science fiction, and I will send the sample via email as a Microsoft Word attachment.  Once I get 3 winners, I will notify everyone here in this introduction  that the competition is over, and I will reveal the answers. Update: as of July 11th, I have one winner. This contest will close July 15th.

 

A. This quote from a poem by an Iraqi, “allow my pen to slay itself,” refers to

1. another quote, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
2. writer’s block.
3. mental illness.
4. a euphemism for a kind of grieving that has gone too far.

B.Even though I am a rabbi, I was hired by my current hospice because

1. I can speak Spanish with  the many Hispanic Catholic patients they have.
2.   Most of the patients are Jewish or agnostic.
3.   They could not ask my religion due to fair employment guidelines
4.  The chaplain’s particular faith does not matter. Spirituality is what counts

C. One of the more fascinating encounters I have had with a patient involved:

1. Someone who turned out to be a distant cousin of mine.
2. One whose occupation in their youth was as a clown in Disney World.
3. A 99-year-old who could still play chess.
4. A Nigerian nun in a convent.

D. “Do you think God should be fired?” Regarding that question,

1. I asked it to help a patient articulate his ambivalent feelings about God.
2. I would never ask such an irreverent question.
3. A patient asked me that to see if he could shock me.
4. I really asked, “Has God disappointed you?”

E. It is nonsense to say society should dispense with chaplains at hospices since the U.S. is more secular because,

1. some patients are very devout; not everyone is secular.
2. some chaplains are secular themselves.
3. it is rare indeed to have someone visit a patient with no agenda other than to share in their suffering or perplexity.
4. who can be the judge of who is secular and who is not?